The Ocean's Teeth
by LeakySneakyOprichniki
Summary: This wasn't exactly the ideal mentorship get away. First it was crashing overboard, and now it was part two of life or death: surviving together in a place unknown. Another AU. Rated M for eventual content.
1. Chapter 1

**You guys are probably gonna kill me since I'm already working on Absolute Altitude, and a visual novel game: Companion's Hand, but this idea absolutely will not leave me. So like I rotated updating on some of my other Cid/Shera fanfictions, this one will (hopefully) briefly rotate with Absolute Altitude.**

 **The inspiration is a little Nintendo DS game called Lost in Blue, of which, I still have with me. The game has such an atmosphere to it that I really can't describe.**

 **So for this fragmented fanfiction, we'll be merging two good games together into a good ol' fashioned Ship Wrecked AU. Cid and Shera are going to be on fresh clean slate. So, let's start from a somewhat new beginning.**

 **Enjoy**

* * *

Day 1

I.

It seemed like, a dark figure maybe, was passing in and out of the thin crack of his eyelids. Cid felt he should have been deeply, deeply concerned outwardly, just as much as it was building inwardly with the resurfacing of his consciousness. He just, couldn't bring himself to muster the energy, so he laid there (wherever _there_ was) for a while after somewhat remembering he existed.

"CAW CAW!"

A bird.

…

"CAW CAW!"

A seagull?

The thin crack of his eyes slowly opened more. There was a thicket of broad leaves swaying lazily above his head. The brightness of an evening sun, through the stippling of shade, stung in the salt-water reddened corners of his eyes. He finally gathered the energy to shift his jaw, and found the uncomfortable grain of sand clinging to his neck and shoulders.

Cid became aware of himself just enough to feel the cold rush of the shoreline bubbling up, and consuming his ankles in sloshing swallows. The exposed portions of his arms itched, probably bug bites, and stung from however long the sun had had its way with him, after the sea chewed him up in the disaster of night and spat him out.

"CAW CAW!"

"Wouldja' shut up?" He croaked. Cid ignored salt stinging in the small cuts to his hand, and then pulled himself up to have a blurred look around.

Shoreline. Even more shoreline. A stacked cliff, and then a dense wall of green that probably lead into more of the unknown.

Fuck.

He was lost. Wasn't he?

II.

Cid was no old man, but his fatigue had him walking with a limp. He was hot, and cold, thirsty, starving, in pain, itchy, and he was absolutely lost without a clue as to what he should do. And dammit, he was a trained individual. With the waves having tossed around his body, and apparently his mind, all he could think to do was to assess what he had.

He dug around in pockets first and uncovered an absolutely ruined carton of soggy cigarettes, and a lighter that he was surprised was still functioning. He also had his pocket knife, an allen wrench, his keys, and a just as water logged, absolutely fuckin' useless now, cell phone.

Digging around the sand in his general area rewarded him with his jacket, which hopefully had more useful items, and then his goggles. Aside from that...nothing else.

Nothing else, so he limped to the other side of the shore for something to finally strike a chord.

He didn't find his survival instincts yet, but to his surprise, he did find another person.

III.

He really hoped she wasn't dead. A "Hey?" or two earned him no response. Carefully, Cid lowered down and took the woman's wrist and felt for a pulse. To his relief, there was something there.

"Hey?" The Captain shook her this time; both stinging hands firmly on her upper back. With a distressed moan, she finally stirred.

IV.

He, and Shera (that's what she told him her name was) trekked wearily down the length of the shore until they came to a small cove of jagged cliffs. She was quiet, Cid decided, but she appeared to be more held together than he did at the moment.

They were both dazed on the details of how they found themselves here, but decided it was more important to piece together what they were going to do at the very moment.

Something told Cid she was probably knowledgeable of the ocean, because she took note of the tempering of the tide as the sun began to face. The beach, in light of the season, was not a good place to dock themselves for the next plan of action. She mumbled on about high-tides and storms on small islands. Unpredictable rises and falls, he surmised.

"We should find some water maybe?" Cid rubbed a bruise set deep into the aching flesh of his shoulder. Water that would do as a decent drinking source was step number one, he recalled that much.

"That would be smart." Shera was fretfully nursing the broken arm of her glasses. Cid was relieved to see she had a bag while watching her sift her hands through the pockets for a miniature repair kit. Maybe she had some other useful items, too.

Cid heavily sighed and scratched the sand from the stubble of his chin. "Y'think if we follow that run-off feed over there between those cliffs, it'll lead us to a stream?"

Shera was silent for just a moment. Her worried eyes were very deep in thought. "I…hope?" She glanced up, begging the sun to stick around a little longer. "We should see before it gets too dark." The clouds out in the distance, as irrelevant as they seemed from afar, could be a formidable storm in a matter of days. She didn't want to think that they were going to be stranded here for long, but even she knew the thought was probably naive.

V.

The last shreds of orange where disappearing in thin ribbons. Every now and again, Shera would glance up over the breaks in thick, tropical canopy to gauge how much light they had left. Just as she was beginning to feel as anxious as she should have been earlier, the distinct rush and babble of a river provided her momentary relief.

Instinctively, Shera followed her new default companion to a safe perch. Squinting, as it was almost dark, she stuck her hand in at the safest bank. It was cool, and the mist that rose didn't smell of anything stagnant. Almost startling her, she felt scales graze her knuckles and discovered that there were plenty of fish.

Eagerly, she cupped a generous amount of the water in her hands and lifted it to relive the dryness in her throat.

"Wait." Cid clasped her shoulder. His eyes were stern.

"What's wrong?" Shera lowered.

"Might have worms." He looked up to the horizon as she had a moment ago, and then he took another long gander for what was in the area. It was hard to make out in the near dark, but there was a break in the incline of the island, right past a thick grove of what appeared to be coconut trees.

"Looks like there's some coconuts around, so we'll just have to eat n' drink those until we can figure out how to boil the water. Y'see that there?" Cid pointed to the break he had noticed; it was starting to look like more of a pocket to hide in now.

"Ahh…" Shera slowly stood to her feet. She rubbed her arms through the sleeves of her yellow sweater. Even though she had it on, she was starting to feel cold. "I see it." It was another small relief.

"We'll park our asses there for the night, and tryn' figure all of this out."

Day 2

I.

The waves crashed in Cid's ears like the lingering rasp of a nightmare. He could remember hitting his back over the metal rail of the deck, before feeling the sharp sting of the ocean's surface after plummeting overboard.

The smoke of the engine fire still filled his nostrils.

But it wasn't the engine, it was the remnants of the fire he'd made last night.

II.

"You sure we couldn't'a stayed on the beach last night?" Cid's back had already been through enough. He figured, sleeping on the sand would have been much more forgiving.

Shera had just trotted through the opening of their small hide-away; carrying a thick bundle of foraged sticks, twigs, and two robust, yellow coconuts in her arms. "I'm sure. I had a look, where we were is flooded this morning. It probably will be for quite some time."

She dumped the fire fuel down in a corner of the cave, and then sat on the hard, dirt floor across from him. "Hungry?" Shera tossed one of the fruits, and Cid lazily caught it in his hands.

"Starvin'." He took out his pocket knife, and was pleased to see that Shera also kept around a blade. That reminded him.

"What all ya got over there?" He tipped his chin in the direction of her bag. Cid stabbed an upright hole into the coconut first, and then lifted it to his lips to heavily drink from it. He really didn't like coconut, but this was a hell of a reason not to care. As soon as the liquid was gone, he carved it open and bit out the flesh.

Shera stabbed a likewise hole, and could hardly talk around her own deep sips. "In my bag? Let me see…"

Thoughtfully, she propped the book bag open and unearthed two small tool kits (one for her glasses, another for small general repairs), an empty half liter vitamin water bottle, a small first aid box, her cell phone (which was also useless), some make-up, hair-ties, marina motel matches, a box of mushy granola bars, and plenty of wet and wrinkled composition books.

"It's not much." She lopsidedly frowned.

"It'll probably help." Cid reached out for the water bottle, took it from Shera, and tapped the surface with his finger. It was glass.

"Actually, this can help right now." It was a decently sized bottle, and it appeared thick enough to be held over a flame. They could get away with boiling some water in this.

With a grunt, Cid stood to his feet. Better do it now while he had something in his stomach.

"Where are you going?" Shera anxiously asked; tugging on the pocket of his green trousers as he passed by.

"I'm gonna head to the stream and fill this up. I'll heat it up over the fire, n' hopefully we'll have some clean enough water."

"I'll come with you."

III.

At first, Cid didn't know what the hell she thought she was doing.

After traveling back with Shera to the bank, he washed his face and chest free of (most) of the sand from the beach, and then selected another portion of the bank to fill the bottle with. The next time he looked up, she was carefully tipped over the edge; almost shoulder deep in currently mellow river water.

Afraid she was going to tumble on in, Cid snapped up and hastily trotted over to snag her by her britches. Of course, before he could do so, Shera snapped _herself_ up.

Grunting with exertion, she tossed a hefty looking river bass right up onto the grass, where it hopefully couldn't flip-flop back into the current.

"Woman?!" The Captain's mouth gaped open in absolute surprise. He held his hand over his heart, stared at her, and then the fish that had finally stilled.

"Where the hell you gotta be from to catch shit like _that,_ with your _hands_?!"

"I'm from some place like this, Sir."

Day 3

I.

It was fish and fruit again for dinner, like it had been the night and morning before. It was hot and unseasoned, but at least it was a decent amount of food.

The flicker of the fire warmed Shera's face while she ate in small bites. To think, what they had, had taken most of the day to claim from the river and the grove out before their hiding place. She still felt just as drained as she had the evening they'd both washed up on the shore, but again, at least they had _something_.

"So…where'd you say you were from again?" Cid added a few more thickly barked sticks to the flame, sat back in his place, and met her eyes. The fire licked and snapped in the salt water reflection of his irises. It took her a little while to process the question. She was so caught in how deeply blue they were.

"I'm…" Shera wiped her mouth. "I'm from the Sister Islands. They're all heavily inhabited. This place, though…I've never seen it before. I hardly recognize some of the things growing here."

"Least you know what's up from down in this sorta terrain. I live somewhere way up north. A lot colder, too, with mountains." Cid took another fillet from the fire and picked out a spare bone. It was bitter sweet; all the effort it took to catch it, clean it, cook it, and he wolfed it down in no time at all.

A short silence passed. Shera tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "Do you…know what happened? If we might find someone else?"

Cid knew what she was asking. "All I saw was fire and smoke. Next thing I know, I'm here."

Shera nodded her head. She only knew the same.

"I haven't seen anyone sides you." Cid licked his fingers. "Maybe there's something else here if we can manage to look around."

She nodded again. It was understood, that an expedition of the island was something they would have to work up to. Shera stuffed the rest of her food in her mouth, dusted off her hands, and then took a good survey of their 'living space' for the first time since they found it.

"What are we supposed to do until then?" Shera tapped the flooring of the closed space with the tip of her steel toe boot. It was too hard for sleeping, but not hard enough to be classified as stone. She bent down to feel it over with her hand; finding some spots dusty, even dig-able if she applied enough force with her fingers. Hopefully it wasn't the firelight, but there was a red tint to it, like perhaps it was hard clay.

The slanting of stones off to the back wall could probably be used for…something. They'd figure it out in time, as dreadful as a long term stay sounded.

"We'll just have to take er' a day at a time. I know the first thing you and I need, is somethin' better to sleep on, and some real damn food. Not that any of this ain't good." Cid tossed his jacket over his shoulders. He was watching her pace about the small space, investigating every nook and cranny.

"But," He continued "y'know, if we really wanna make some progress, we need some protein. I hear all kinds of _somethin'_ durin' the day and night, so I bet ya there's _somethin'_ worth hunting down."

"So…tomorrow?"

"Just take a better look around this area, and hopefully start on some damn 'home improvement'. That sound like a plan?"

Another immense comfort. "Sounds like a plan, sir."

Day 7

I.

Cid had spent most of his day inside, whittling down the end of somewhat limber branch into a fine point. If there's one thing he knew how to do, it was how to throw a spear. Being that he didn't have one, he had to resort to crafting one. He didn't have much time to edge down a rock, or any sort of twine (he doubted his shoe laces would be strong enough) to bind it, so just the wood itself would have to do.

"That's looking good." Shera's hair was frizzed with humidity when she returned. She closed the opening of the cave with the large, currently yellowed, long leaves they had placed there as a partition from the outside.

Cid glanced up at her, wiping thick beads of sweat from her brow, and then her bundled sweater. He wondered why she was using it as a container, instead of her bag, but realized in one glance that that was full as well.

"I'm hoping I'll stick a wild hog with it." Cid's brows mischievously rose. "I noticed some mowed up ground lookin' for firewood yesterday. The way they tear up land with their tusks is unmistakable." When he was satisfied with the cut of the wood, Cid snapped his knife into the sheath, and then stuck it in one of his pants pockets.

Shera's brow furrowed. She placed both her filled sweater, and her book bag down on the floor. "Aren't they a little aggressive?" Shera removed the day's forage from her bag first. More sticks for the fire, unpeeled leechie berries, some roots he didn't recognize, their refilled water bottle, and some more large, soft leaves to replace the ones that had browned over their flooring.

"They're fuckin' mean, is what they are. We'll be set for a good while if I can harpoon one, though."

"Interesting you should mention…" Shera hummed. The smile on her face was pleasant as she began to untie the sleeves of her sweater.

"Ta da~" surrounded by a big pile of harvested shellfish, was an even bigger, white, stone rock. She had to hold it up carefully with both hands. It must have been heavy, because it was jagged and about as big as her head.

Cid blinked once, then twice

…

What the hell was it?

Shera must have registered his confusion, because she sputtered, and folded her legs over her place on the floor to further elaborate.

"It's salt, silly."

"You sure 'bout that?"

"I'm absolutely positive."

Day 8

I.

He really caught one, Shera almost didn't believe it.

Cid had dragged the boar all the way back from the very far acre of the grove. The deep wound where the spear had pierced it was thickly dripping. She could see it there; a crimson trail in the moonlight.

The Captain, she decided to call him by his occupation since he had informed her, had a rather broad and weary grin on his face. Triumphant and very satisfied with the night's work.

She guessed now they would have to let their victim drain, and then cut it up. Shera was visibly nauseous, and Cid was afraid she might have been squeamish. But, it wasn't that.

They were going to have to spend hours gutting an entire hog with a couple of already suffering pocket knives. Wasn't it already late?

II.

It must have been five or six am, because the sun was stretching for the morning when they finished.

They settled on using the salt to preserve at least _some_ of what they cooked. All of the meat was wrapped up in bundles of washed leaves until it was ready to be eaten over the next couple of days.

Rewarded with full stomachs, and the air cooled by the oncoming of a storm, they both said 'goodnight' at the unreasonable time of eight in the morning, and slept well into the evening.

Day 15

I.

Wet clay had caked between her fingers and beneath her nails. Shera vaguely remembered how to do this. At least, with the way the rain was coming down, she didn't have to worry about traveling far to re-moisten her progress, and the padding of sand beneath the leaves she slept on added enough grit to the make-shift mixture.

She had figured, the packed clay on the inside of the cave was enough to make some more containers for water. Maybe even a few carrying pots if there was enough. The single glass bottle they had was not optimal. It felt like it was so long ago that she'd taken an extracurricular pottery class, but it really wasn't. She was planning to be an engineering intern when things had gone up in flames.

With a sigh, Shera tried not to dwell on it. The memory of it all made her hands shake. She didn't want to think of the god awful sound of the explosion, the deck splitting, who might have been lost. How everyone at home might have assumed she was lost as well.

Swallowing down stinging in her throat, Shera rolled out another coil to the base of the bottle she was making, tightened the rim in progress, and then smoothed the edges for the next layer. She glanced over the fire, finding that Captain Highwind was still sound; sleeping off the heavy rain and thunder.

He…must have been a mentor on board. She couldn't imagine him being a student. He looked too old. Seemed too knowledgeable. He said that he was a Captain, after all. Maybe that's why she trusted this stranger so blindly. At times, it unnerved Shera how confident he was, how he wasn't inclined to mope much at all.

She didn't know how to feel about him, and for the time being, neither were good at making too much conversation. Well, aside from the Here's What We Need to Do Now.

Shera gazed until she didn't really see him. His eyes had been open for quite some time now, but she was too intrigued by the concept of him to notice.

II.

"Somethin' on my face, gal?"

"N-no, I was just thinking."

Day 21

I.

"So, I was thinkin'…" Cid rapped his knuckle against the thick bottom of a fully baked pot after it had spent an extra day cooling off. The firm, hollow sound it made was satisfying to the ear. He was glad it had been raining, otherwise, the temperature inside of the cave would have been unbearable while all of the fresh containers were cooking.

"Thinking about what?" Shera was examining a bottle; blowing through the top to make sure she hadn't left any holes were water could leak.

Cid brushed his thumb over a few of Shera's fingers prints left on the gritty surface. "That now'd be a good time to start lookin' for what else might be here. We can take some water with us." He placed the pot down next to its siblings. "Got some food, and some energy."

Shera was unsure of the idea. She'd already become accustomed to the familiarity, and security of where they were already. "Wouldn't it be better to maybe, find a place that could hold a signal fire?" Like the beach, given the right timing. It could take some extended waiting for the tides to recede.

The Captain seemed to consider it, but she could tell by the look in his eye, that his gut was telling him otherwise. "If we run outta luck, it's our Plan B. I've been lookin', believe me." He went on. "And I ain't yet to see a boat, or blinkin' lights in the sky. And if somethin's come and gone without us knowin', then we're just some unlucky mother fuckers."

"I guess we are…" Shera inhaled the scent of earth that whisped in through the curtain of leaves shielding them from the pelting outside. She pushed up her glasses, and wiped beneath her eyes.

II.

"Hey…" The Captain, starling her with how timidly he approached, sat down next to Shera's side and placed a comforting hand on her back. He was unsure if she was accepting of this sort of comfort, and he wasn't all that good at giving it, but she didn't appear to object.

"We're gonna be alright. Made it this damn far..."

The touch was all she needed to downpour. Shera wept like the rain into the warmth of Cid's side.

Hell, they both cried.

Day 23

I.

The rain had finally subsided, leaving the sky partly cloudy and the ground spongy. It made good for venturing out before the balm of the sun returned, but not so good for collecting dry materials. Because absolutely nothing was dry.

The river rushed far too quickly to fish, and no huntable wild life except for elusive birds had crawled out from their burrowing places. That left them with hastily plucking unearthed crabs from the flooded beach. They brought their live catch back to their resting place, spared a few more pieces of pre-collected fire wood, placed their victims in a clay pot of fresh rain water, and then boiled them up live with a few chips of salt.

"I've never felt so primitive." Shera prodded a vengeful claw with the blunt end of a stick. She was mumbling to herself, but Cid was well of hearing.

"I used to be trained for shit sorta like this." Cid added the last few crabs once they had stopped resisting him. His palms were luckily too work worn to feel them pinch. "Last resorts. What to Duct Tape When Somethin' that Ain't Supposed to Fall Apart, Falls Apart. How to become a Neanderthal."

Shera snorted. With managing the boil, she couldn't hide her smile from him. He liked to see it, it was a real pretty one. "It looks like you remember."

"Yeah, looks like you remember, too." He referenced the pots she made, and all of the other 'housekeeping' they'd collaborated on. They had food, water, and shelter. And they struggled some days, but to be here for almost a month now, still kicking, was absolutely notable.

Perhaps they were unlucky to be here, but quite lucky to be here with each other.

Day 30

I.

Long hikes left a lot of open time for well needed conversation.

Cid asked Shera why she'd been on the ship, and she asked him the same. It was what they already knew, and were both very sore to remember. Shera was the one to change the topic while they paused on an open field to have lunch, and rest.

"What's the most mundane thing you miss, Captain?" She was sitting at his side; lightly jabbing his forearm with her elbow.

He took a few sips of water, and then cleared his throat. "Soap." Cid answered.

"That was my first thought." They both stunk. That was a fact. No wash-offs in a brook could fix what deodorant, or detergent could. "I miss soap. All kinds of soap."

The Captain nodded. "Soap, toilet paper, towels, razors..." He scratched his chin and neck. What was stubble before had grown into a decent beard.

Shera groaned. " _Razors_." She lifted her tattered pants leg. "Look."

"Holy shit!" Cid boisterously laughed. He lifted his pants leg as well and bared his shin. He pressed it up to hers for a playful comparison. "Lookie there, we match."

Day 33

I.

Now that the pages were long dry, Shera's half-filled notebooks made a good space to scribble down a map. Cid, having a little know-how on how to make one good enough to follow, recorded as they went along with a working pen found in his jacket pockets. They only stopped ever few paces to discuss the usefulness of what they saw, and mark the physical path for later. The bright pink, from a spare tube of expensive lipstick was pearlescent enough to be seen in moonlight. If Shera marked lightly, she could make it last for several more trees.

"I really don't think this island is inhabited at all." If it were, they would have found someone by now. Or someone would have found them. Shera climbed up on a rocky perch before the swaying span of a grassy meadow, and shielded the evening sun from her eyes. As far as she could see, it was just green; all the way up to the dormant crown of a volcano.

"Wait…" Cid climbed up and steadied himself close to Shera's side. She instinctively took his free hand, and he threaded their fingers. "You see that yonder?"

Peeking out from the line of another lush canopy were the long tresses of a water wall. Anchoring himself higher on the perch with the sharp end of his spear, Cid craned his head to see what was around it. "Those are some of the biggest damn trees I've ever seen."

"Likewise…" Shera was in awe. "Should we keep going and have a look there. There's…something else." She couldn't squint well enough to see it in focus, but the structure excited her. Could it finally be something, someone?

"Yeah, I sorta see it, too." The Captain tugged her; signaling that he was ready to work his way down. "It's gonna get dark again, soon. We'll hike back up another day now that we know how't get here."

II.

"Cid?"

The crickets sang.

Shera's line of sight drifted from the bright orange embers pulsing in the pile of ash between their sleeping spaces. It still radiated with the warmth of a full flame from the early evening.

Taking her eyes from there brought her to realize the darkness of their living space. Cid, who hadn't responded yet, shifted onto his other side to face her. From what she could tell, his eyes weren't open.

"Hn…?" He grunted.

"I'm sorry if I woke you." Shera wriggled her toes to relieve the aching pound of a full day's worth of walking. "I can't help thinking, that when we leave here, I'll just be leaving this island for another."

The Captain didn't really know what that meant. He cracked open his eyes, loudly yawned, and then stretched his arms far above him. "It ain't the same. This island is just an island, and the one you said yer from, that's home."

Huh…

"I guess you're right." She sighed. "I really miss home. My family…Even my job."

Cid's laugh was textured with previously being sleeping. "Don't blame ya for bein' homesick. I'd give my pinky finger to be in a real bed." Shera could see his smile in the dark. She smiled back. The anxiousness churning the pit of her stomach ebbed.

"Just keep this in yer back pocket, gal: We're gonna make our stay here temporary. Understand?"

"Understood, Captain."

The crickets continued to sing.

"Um, Captain…" Shera removed her glasses and placed them up above her head. If she found his eyes in the dark, she wasn't going to be able to find her train of thought. "You have any family at home?"

"Uh…" Cid grimaced "I don't have a spouse and kids, if that's what ya mean. My mom and pop are around. I got aunts, uncles, a couple of cousins. Don't see em all that often. You?"

"I don't have a spouse or children either. No boyfriend or girlfriend." Shera shook her head. "I have my mother, my uncle, and all of his children are kind of like my brother and sisters."

"No pop?" Cid folded his hands over his stomach. He propped his head on his rolled up jacket.

"Sort of…he's around, but I don't care to know him."

The Captain paused to listen to a chorus of grassy footsteps passing the cave by. Quails were out for the night stroll. "Shit…Sorry I asked."

His brow knitted. "How old are you anyway?" Cid almost couldn't believe how long it'd taken him to ask. They'd really neglected to thoroughly introduce themselves, trying not to acknowledge how traumatized they really were.

"I'm twenty-five." Shera rolled onto her back. "How old are you?"

"Three-O." Cid made the number with his fingers. Just turned this year in February."

"Oh!"

He decided he didn't like how surprised she sounded. "How old did ya think I was?!"

"…Forty…something." Shera held her hand over her cackle. "Maybe it's the beard?"

"Fuck you, I bet you were thinkin' that before all of this shit grew."

"I'm so sorry, Captain." Shera placed her glasses back on just so she could see the look on his face.

Day 37

I.

Shera could safely say that she anticipated and dreaded the hike back up to the sight of the waterfall. She was eager to know what lied beyond the next level of the island, but her legs and thighs didn't hold the same sentiments.

She paced herself in packing food away into her book bag. Nudging the strap of her tank top over her shoulder, she lifted her sweater (which had become a permanent bag with some modifications) up over her other arm, and then handed the book bag to Cid for him to carry.

Once they made sure they hadn't forgotten anything, they referenced the map etched into her journal, and followed Shera's markers up to the same field they'd looked over before.

When they arrived, there were a few wild goats candidly grazing overgrown, monsoon nourished grass. They didn't seem to be concerned with Cid and Shera, but maybe they should have been, because Cid would remember them for later.

"Boars, quails, turtles, frogs, hawks, now goats." Shera had been keeping as much a track of all of the animals they'd seen. It made her wonder how much else was here.

"Everything else I believe, but I haven't a clue why these things are here." The Captain took her hand and continued where they'd left off a few days passed. He figured it'd take another hour or two to make it to whatever this jut-out, and waterfall was. And then they'd have to figure out where to bunk for the night if they didn't have time to high-tail it back.

"Maybe someone brought them a long, long time ago. Or they just washed up like we did?" Shera gazed down at their joined hands. Cid's palms were rough, certainly not from struggling here, but were warm and nearly enveloped hers. She was hit with the strangest sensation. And then another that punished her for not paying ample attention to where she was allowing her feet to fall. Shera shrieked.

Boars, quails, turtles, frogs, hawks, goats, now

Snakes.

II.

Cid honestly didn't have any genuine hostility towards snakes, but the moment he saw this one retract from Shera's leg, he stomped it dead. If it got away, they'd never know if, or how deadly.

He told her to stay right where she was, they weren't moving.

* * *

 **And that concludes chapter 1**

 **We'll see how the days go next time. Leave a review!**


	2. Chapter 2

III.

The rush of the waterfall down below their second hideout helped to keep Cid from sleeping. The hefty drone and rush of the water would take some getting used to, if they were to decide to stay here. It would also take some deliberation to see if this cave was better than the one closer to the beach. It wasn't the time for that now, though.

That aside, his concern was the second thing preventing him from sleeping. On the other side of the smothered fire, Shera remained in a light slumber. From her tensed face, his eyes traveled to the bite at her ankle. It eased some of his worry to see that the multiple punctures had yet to become inflamed. Cid figured, if that bite had been venomous, it would have refused to clot like it was, and swelled up long before now.

The snake, that he had decided to keep, had a skinny, little head. It was mostly brown, and from what he could see from its crushed head, it had multiple thin teeth instead of mostly two big ones.

With all that information, and what much he could remember from field training, that should have been enough for him to sleep easy, but he wanted to be sure she was breathing in the morning. Cid hardly knew Shera, but the thought of losing her scared him half to death.

Day 38

I.

"How's this feelin'?" Cid held on to Shera's heel. He tried not to apply too much pressure around her bite in case it still hurt.

"It's sore, but it doesn't sting like yesterday." Shera had been just as anxious for her life last evening as he was, but seemed much calmer now. Either it was a non-venomous snake, or a dry bite. At any rate, she felt lucky and grateful.

Cid sighed, wishing they had bigger Band-Aids. "That's a good thing. Means it's healin'." He let her foot go so she could get her sock and shoe back on.

"Figure y'can walk on it?"

"I don't think it hurts enough for me to limp again. So, I'll give it a yes." Shera anchored herself on his shoulder while he was still kneeling. As she slipped her sock back on, Shera examined the interior of the new cave.

It smelled a little damp, but was spacious. If she focused long enough, she could hear the faint chirp of bats over the roar of the waterfall somewhere deeper down. She was surprised that they weren't disturbed by them, but then again, they might have been used to constant noise.

"Cid...You know there are bats here?"

"Bats…?"

II.

As soon as they had a chance to eat, drink, and boil another batch of water, they were both on the move again. After brief assessment, they concluded that the cave was already taken. Neither of them could imagine being there when the family of bats emerged for a wholesome outing. That, and neither of them wanted to see what a surge did to the waterfall after another hardy rain.

"We're almost there." Cid squinted ahead to the rock structure they had spotted days before. "Looks like whatever that is, it's gonna be a good hike up to it. Maybe it won't be all that bad. Kinda seems like there's a path."

Shera followed his line of sight, and then agreed with a nod. It didn't look recently paved, as plant life had grown over a considerable portion, but the rocks and stones seemed too 'placed' to have formed that way on their own. They almost appeared carved, or arranged like stair steps. The structure itself looked just as such, rock pieced together more than a naturally formed cave like the ones they had been sleeping in.

"I'm thinkin'," And Cid usually was the pioneer of their co-op "that we can head there, and have a good survey of this area. If it'll work for us, we can stay here. But if we're better back down on the grove, we'll stay around here for the night, and then head backn' that direction in the morn."

"And if this area seems more livable, we'll still have to go and retrieve some things, won't we?" Shera allowed her eyes to flow back downward to their immediate area. They weren't much removed from the parameter of the waterfall. It was beautiful. Lush, colorful, glistening, and melodic with the calls of birds and bugs. The constantly flowing water could be used for drinking, fishing, and bathing. From what else she could take note of, there was plenty that looked safe to eat here, too. She would have to have a closer look for safety, but she recognized guava and starfruit that was being eaten by something that lived around. Taking the time to transfer some of their haul, from closer to the beach, to here, would guarantee a notable upgrade in living. If only the space behind the waterfall was safer…

"Mm…I guess yer right. Or we could leave stuff there, and here so we have back up spots. Who knows if we're gonna have to make trips back n' forth." Cid scratched the irritating scruff of his chin while he thought that over.

Shera accepted his reasonable rebuttal with another nod. "That also makes sense. How long do you think it will take us to get up there and comb for resources?" She opened the bag she was carrying to monitor their remaining supply of food.

"Not more than a twenty-minute trot. After that, I dunno what's on the agenda. We'll just have to figure out when we get there. C'mon gal, let's get going before the sun starts bakin'."

III.

Cid had estimated under a half hour of walking, but needing to cut and clear away growth, turned their journey into two hours. They were eventually rewarded with a usable walkway, a partially cloudy sky that hid the sun's ugly yellow mug, a cooled late afternoon breeze, and a decent perch from which to eat, drink, and rest.

Shera was initially nervous at the height, but the island up here was just as beautiful as it was up close lower down. It made her think of the inhabited thickets on her own home island, and the wooden stairs and paths that zig-zagged between them. Sitting there next to Cid on one of the heavy stone steps (and indeed they were old stone steps) reminded her of sitting on her mother's porch.

Even here, she could feel the worn wooden rail of the deck beneath her chin while she looked out over the dip of cabana houses along the cove. The view of the sparkling curtain of the ocean; this too was similar, but not as familiar and inviting. The shore at home, she didn't know its sharp teeth. Shera heavily sighed, but was soon comforted by the Captain's hand slowly, knowingly rubbing her lower back.

"You tired, bud?" Cid asked her. He absentmindedly tongued remnants of lunch pestering a back tooth. Wincing, he found it somewhat sore from grinding in his sleep.

"I'm tired for right now." Shera lifted some water to her lips. After having her portion, she passed the half empty container to Cid, and then watched him sip. "There's still a lot to do."

Cid grunted, and then pulled himself up to his feet. "Y'ain't kiddin'." He twisted the top back onto their water container, bent down to stuff it back into Shera's bag, and then stood up straight again. Pulling out the map he had been updating next, Cid began to take note of the new area.

IV.

Her fingers, carrying a few old cuts and scrapes, traced the eroded notches of carvings left in the gritty stone surface of their potential hideaway. Their structure was actually a collection of structures; a miniature ruin. Of what kind? Neither of them were sure. What they were sure of, was that there was another source of clear, moving water nearby (an original aqueduct), and now at least three decent dwellings to choose from. No one was here, and they probably hadn't been there for hundreds of years.

Making smalls sounds, like a preschooler attempting their first book, Shera tried to read whatever the prior inhabitants left behind. She had no luck, but she knew she recognized a portion of what was considered decipherable. It wasn't English, that was also for sure, but English wasn't her first language anyway.

Figuring she wouldn't waste any more of her time or energy on it, Shera rejoined her partner in hashing out the rest of the day's details. The hours of sunlight they had left needed to be spent on securing more food, supplies, and making their new camp much more hospitable.

Day 39

I.

"Hey," This was becoming somewhat of a game between them now "what's the most mundane thing you miss today?" Cid whispered to Shera over the cackle and snicker of the current fire. The fresh leaves below him crinkled with the shifting of his weary body. With a stretch, and then exhale through his nose, Cid grew more comfortable in their new setting.

"Um…" Shera prodded their cooking dinner with the tip of her pocket knife. She paused her train of thought to check the pinkness of the meat, and then gave Cid her full eye contact. "I don't know. I feel like there's a lot I miss today."

Cid could see that. He still wondered what exactly, but knew better than to press her on it. "Plates." He eyed up all five quail with a growling stomach. He could eat all five, and then some, but he knew he was only getting three.

"Mm, yeah, I could use one of those. I don't really like getting um…substrate in my meals." Speaking of, Shera reached out to pick off a piece of bark from a roasting thigh. "Some gloves would be nice, too." Nice and sanitary.

He grunted at that, and then grunted again as he sat up. Licking dryness from his lips, Cid pushed down from the stone platform they were both using as a bed, and then seated himself on the floor next to Shera. While she was preoccupied with the fire, he peeled back the Band-Aid and had a look at her bite. It was scabbing quite nicely.

"Forks, napkins, pepper for some of that salt we've got…" Cid added on, and then gently patted the adhesive back in place.

Shera carefully pulled off the tree limb spit their food was speared on to. She didn't mind Cid's prodding or proximity, and found the pressure from his thigh pressing up against hers comforting. "Yes, all of those, too. I'm going to say sanitizer today. Though, I guess that counts as soap again, doesn't it? I think I miss…" She passed Cid his food. She could see he was eager for it.

"Blankets. I really wish there was a pillow and blanket." Shera smiled with amusement as Cid took his first few bites. He burned his tongue, she could tell by the noise he made. It sort of reminded her of an eager puppy. Maybe a starving old hound suited the Captain better? It wasn't as if he wasn't aware that the birds were hot.

The Captain licked his chops after swallowing another mouthful of food. "Yeah, feels like it's gettin' cool again. Saw those clouds, too. I reckon it fancies another rain."

From her knees, Shera sank down to her bottom, and then finally began to eat. She blew away wisps of steam in between her own bites. "I think…I also miss my cellphone actually functioning."

"Shit!" Cid stopped eating just so he could bark with laughter and shake his head. "What a fuckin' problem that simple thing would fix."

II.

Sometimes, he felt a little strange for doing so, creepy actually, but Cid liked to watch Shera's sleeping face. Slumber was evading him again. He had his eye and walk-full of the ruin. She was all he had to gaze upon now, and honestly, Cid found her just as, if not more interesting than this place.

He didn't know what it was. Maybe it was because she was beautiful. Or that she looked like a completely different person. Or that he couldn't figure out where her features were from. Or maybe it was because he knew she gazed at him the same way when she thought he wasn't looking.

III.

Just when he was starting to drift off, her voice brought him back again.

"Huh?" Cid woke with a jolt. "What's wrong?" She sounded hurt? No…vulnerable, like a child waking and crawling into their parent's room after a nightmare.

He couldn't sense what time it was, but the stone nook was still dark. The only light remaining was the moon that feathered in through the jagged, rectangular opening. The wind rustled the leaves covering the tall threshold, and howled over the hard floor. It was chilling and smelled of the threat of rain.

"I really miss having a blanket." Shera's voice was closer to him now. When he began to fall asleep, she was on the other, far end of the platform. Now, she was no more than a pace or so from him, and moving closer. Closer until he could feel the long tresses of her auburn hair trickle down and ghost his shoulder.

"Uh, hold on," He shrugged out of his jacket and opened his arms. Cid pretended the way he knew she needed him didn't make him considerably nervous. It hadn't taken them long at all to grow comfortable in the company of a stranger; the light touch and aid of hands. But this was different, in another one of those ways he somewhat didn't know how to describe.

His jacket was draped over them both. Shera shivered and shivered and chattered her pearly teeth until his body heat had a chance to seep from his chest to hers. The scent of her hair wafted from the top of her head, tucked somewhere beneath his god awfully bearded chin. Cid was afraid she could feel his heart pounding beneath the skin of his neck.

Fidgeting until their limbs mended like puzzle pieces, Shera finally stilled, mumbled something incoherent, and then drifted back to sleep. The pressure of her body weight reminded Cid that he was weary. He was asleep not too long after.

Day 43

I.

Just because they were out in the 'wilderness' so to speak, didn't mean they couldn't have a balanced diet. As thankful as Shera was for fresh protein and fresh fruit, she was really missing some sort of variety of greens. Now, this was something her horribly carnivorous partner wasn't going to complain about, and normally, Shera had the habit of over consuming on her own portions of protein.

Ahem, but, out here, there was no comfortable loo, they rationed their water intake, and she absolutely hated coconut husk. Unfortunate. Her bowels were trying to give her a hint before they would have to commence an outright protest. She got the hint just fine.

Today, of all hot humid days, she was absolutely thrilled to recognize a healthy-looking carpet of sweet potato leaves in the nearest open field from the ruins. One by one, she examined the plants for nesting spiders, and then dug up the soft, moist earth with her hands to reveal just as healthy-looking, plump tubers.

II.

"You can actually eat this?" Cid was surprised, but very pleased with Shera's discovery. He was supposed to be collecting logs for an eventual signal fire, but the sun was back at maximum wrath now that the rains had subsided, and her little greenery meadow was heavily shaded with palm trees.

The moment Cid kneeled down beside her, Shera delegated him the job of replanting what they took. She had a mind to keep some here, and then bring back some dirt so that she could plant closer to home…

Hideaway. They were always planning head, but she had to remind herself again that their stay was temporary.

"What? Sweet potato leaves?" Shera didn't want to insult his intelligence. She figured he knew that the tubers were edible."

"Yeah, ain't never had potato leaves in my life. Always thought they were poisonous like um…" Cid snapped his fingers, trying to recall what his mother used to tell him "Eggplant?"

"Eggplant, tomatoes, regular brown potatoes. Those leaves are poisonous, but these are just tasty." They moved down the row of hand tilled dirt, both finding it caked onto their palms and between their fingers. Just as Cid had stuffed one of the tubers down, Shera was there in his place to cover it. They went on like that for a while, until they had at least a week's worth.

Day 45

I.

Wind chimes, or the memory of, twinkled in Cid's ears. The grass was soft beneath his back. It tickled the relaxed skin of his arm and the pattern of hair that grew all the way down to his knuckles. He stared up at the sky until it wasn't the sky anymore, just a broadcast for his thoughts. Wimpy white clouds, if they could even call themselves clouds, drifted by under the scrutiny of the sun like tickertape.

"Yellow bastard." Cid squinted. The sun sneered back at him leaving an angry flash of its inverted colors behind his eyelids. If it wasn't so gooddamn hot, he would have been working like he'd promised. But nooo, the sun was show boating today, and very adamant about zapping Cid's energy.

"I think, Mr. Sun has the same nickname for you." Shera sank down next to him. Her body slumped like a sack of sand. She looked like she had been making and setting bird traps (she was covered in feathers), before the sun fancied draining her energy as well.

"What?!" The Captain pretended to be highly offended. He gave his blond mop a good run through with his fingers, and craned his head in her direction. "You got a problem up there, Blondie?"

Shera laughed, a little jingly one he really liked, and then laid down on her back in the same fashion. "I think there's a major problem up there. I'll rebaptize myself right here, right now, for some clouds."

Cid could hardly fight his smile to whistle in response. "Gal, you're gettin' _real_ serious over there, aren't you?"

"This is some _serious_ heat." She paused, rolling her eyes at no one in particular. Glasses lopsided on her nose, Shera continued. "I don't know why I'm acting like this is new. It gets just as ugly in the air at home. Every year we…I, complain like this isn't normal." Shera turned onto her side. The wind, nothing but hot humid air, whipped her hair in a brown halo around her head. She was awake, but Cid still thought her very beautiful.

"At least you have a reason to complain about this, right?" She asked him. "You come from somewhere cooler."

"Yeah, it gets hot some days, but nothin' like this."

After that came simple silence. He couldn't go back to staring at the so-called-clouds if he had Shera's eyes. If it _wasn't_ so hot, he would have wanted her to move a little closer. Maybe come to his chest like they had been sharing their nights now. Cid wanted to reach out and beckon, so it surprised him when she reached out ahead of his thoughts, and touched his cheek.

His eyes were closed before he could process what was happening. Her sweaty palm on his sweaty cheek became her sweaty forehead on his sweaty forehead. And from breath to breath, lips to lips.

Everything was alright. They were going to be okay.

Day 50

I.

"A comb, or hairbrush. Shampoo…that's soap, again isn't it?" Shera whispered to Cid, though she didn't have to. They weren't commencing the game from opposite sides of a fire. They were puzzle pieced together on their bed of leaves again; listening to the nocturnal life thrive outside. Bats, though numerous and somewhat unnerving, had pleasant little voices.

"Y'done mentioned soap every damn time, Shera." Cid's voice rumbled up from his chest and tickled her ear. "I can't believe m' gonna say this, but…"

"But what?"

"I miss the dentist."

Shera lifted her head and rested her chin on his sternum. Her expression was puzzled and intrigued. That was outside the usual for his mundane suggestions. "The dentist? Or having a real toothbrush?"

"The dentist. I got this tooth back here that's been driving me crazy."

"Oh," Shera grimaced, empathizing with him "is it a cavity?"

"I sure as hell hope not. It don't sting. It aches like hell some days in my jaw like it's sinus pressure." Cid rubbed the small of her back.

"Cid…that sounds even worse." That was incredibly concerning. She wondered why he was just now saying something about it. It also made her wonder about his pain tolerance. Tooth pain was something Shera could, in no form or fashion, handle longer than a day.

"Must not be all that bad." He closed one eye.

"Why do you say that?"

"Ain't stopped you from kissin' me. If my breath was rancid, I bet you'd keep me at a distance."

Well…he wasn't wrong.

Day. 60

I.

There wasn't much for Shera to do for most of the week. Okay, there was, but not much that involved sitting in place. How foolish of her, to forget about some of the most basic (and antagonizing) of her body's natural functions. She had stirred in the morning to discover that she soaked through her clothing, and into his. Shera was initially embarrassed and guilty. She should have sensed it and been prepared days ahead of the mess, but for some reason, it had crept past her notice. She very understandably missed sanitary pads, but was lucky enough to have a thick packet of gauze in the first aid kit.

"It's alright, don't get all chicken henned up about it." Cid assured her that blood wasn't anything new. He was awkward about it seeping a finger sized puddle into his trousers, but was over it after a wash along with some of her stained bottoms.

Day 62

I.

Cid seemed like the sort of fellow to have irritable tendencies, but man, was he ever in a foul mood today. He hadn't said a word since he returned from collecting signal wood, but she could tell something had, or was ticking him off.

She wondered if it was from being out on his own the prior few days without her help, and grew anxious thinking that somehow, his mood was her fault.

He ate in the other corner without his usual enthusiasm for dinner.

II.

"Captain um…" Shera licked her finger "I'm sorry for—"

"Where's that repair kit?"

"Huh?"

"The repair kit? Where's it at?!" He stood up abruptly.

"The patch bag…? I mean, in the sweater bag." Shera was absolutely confused. Did he not want to talk?

All but ripping items out of the cloth container, Cid finally located the repair kit, and then the miniature pair of pliers on the inside.

It took her a moment to come out of her confusion, but the light finally went off when he shoved the instrument into the far back portion of his mouth. He let out a guttural racket, like a snarling wild animal, that scared Shera out of her skin.

III.

Blood wasn't anything new.

It was rolling down his cheek and oozing in gooey saliva strings to his shirt. Cid pulled out of his bad mood like someone had waved a magic wand, snapped their fingers, voila! The offending tooth, severely cracked from not being able to bear his anxiety in his sleep, was still in the metal grip. His jaw would be raw and sore for a while, but this felt oh-so-much-fucking-better in comparison to the pain he'd been dealing with for weeks. He'd finally had enough. Sweet sweet relief.

"Captain!" With hands clasped over her mouth, Shera was _appalled_. She stared at the removed tooth as if it were cursed, and then at Cid like he was still the wild animal he had sounded like.

 _"What if that gets infected?!"_

"It was gonna get infected anyhow. I'd rather it the hell outta my mouth!"

Day 65

Even with the swelling, Cid did in no way regret his decision.

In the turn of events, Shera supposed now she had a reason to look after him, like he had looked after her. The snake bite felt like ages ago.

Diligent as always, she would pester Cid to flush out his mouth after a meal. Thankful again for the first aid kit, there was a little travel sized bottle of peroxide. She added an appropriate about of drops to the water set aside just for the hole in his gums, and then gave it to him. The swelling was going down gradually. A good sign.

"Let me see your mouth?" Shera was ready to stop moving about for the evening. She had spent most of the muggy day completing most his daily tasks while it was his turn to warm the bench.

"Ah~" He stuck out his tongue…he wasn't done chewing.

"What are you? Four? I mean after you eat and wash it out, you big silly."

Cid snickered. "Messin' with ya. It's fine. You ain't got to look at it."

"Hypocrite!" Shera set her hands on her hips. "You didn't have to look at my _bite_ , but you did anyway. So, now I have to look at yours." She offered Cid a cheeky smile in their jousty argument.

"Ha. Ha. Funny." Cid finally finished eating what he considered baby food, and washed his mouth out as Shera had asked. He swished it once, twice, and then spat it into an already dirty clay container. "If I'm rememberin' that right, that coulda been a lethal bite. Did I lethally yank my tooth?"

"You do know you can get blood poisoning, right?"

"If I drop dead, it'll be my own damn fault. Don't worry about it."

"How can I not worry? Just for saying that, I'm not going to kiss you anymore."

"Aw…Shera…"

Day 66

I.

Let's see…what was next on Cid's list of evictions.

Tooth?

Check.

Goats?

Annoying as all get out, but they had big ass horns, and heads as hard as his, so out of the question.

The Sun?

Not possible, or wise.

The beard?

You bet your ass that had to go. Next on the blacklist.

Cid sharpened his blade on a decent river rock until it could have finessed a cutlet. Yep, it was time to feel like a man instead of a bog creature.

"Where are you going?" Shera, bless her heart, was on his heels the moment she saw him stuff a bag of supplies. He couldn't blame her, he was the same way when he saw she was getting ready to venture out on her own.

"Eh," Cid habitually tongued the vacant lot in his gums "M headn' down to the waterfall. I need a wash off ASAP. Won't be gone long."

"Take me with you."

He knew a command when he heard one.

II.

"I'm trustin' you…don't slice me up." Cid handed her the knife, and then pulled it away when she reached out for it.

"Um," She reached out again, only for him to do the same a second time "Are you sure? Because it kind of looks like you don't want to trust me at all." When the handle finally grazed her finger tips, she snatched it from him. Dropping the timid arm that had been covering her bare breasts, Shera tip toed toward him through the drag of the cool water.

Cid had to sink down to his knees so that he could soak his chin, and so that she could also reach him. The devil and angel on his shoulder bickered in both of his ears. He was eye level with Shera's chest.

To ogle, or not to ogle. She was such a pretty woman.

His own sense of integrity won that evening, and he directed his eyes somewhat up to the canopy while Shera banished the monster that had been growing from his face.

From what he could see, she had a cute, determined expression tensing her features. Shera's tongue was poked out of the corner of her full lips in concentration. Her warm almond eyes were squinting, and her brows furrowed in the same kind of fortitude. The devil on his left suggested he spook her, because he was a thirty-year-old man who hadn't grown out of pestering girls he liked. But you know what, she was doing a fine job of not cutting him, and he didn't want to ruin that.

"Hey," Shera collected water in her free palm, and trickled it over his cheek. The fact that he could finally feel the air on his face was a liberation.

"What?" He mimicked her tone.

"Stop making funny faces."

" _You_ stop making funny faces." He nipped her arm when it passed over his mouth.

"I'm not making funny faces." Shera retorted. Cid grimaced as she thumped him on the forehead with the nail of her index finger. It didn't hurt (he was hardheaded, remember?), but he pretended that it did.

"You're not _now_ , but you _were_." Once Cid could feel she was done, he stood to his full height and felt over his cheeks. Choppy in places, but that's the best they were gonna get with a suffering pocket knife. _So much better_. As relishing in having his face back was checked off the list of tasks, Cid reached beneath the water and reciprocated her thump to his forehead with a proper pinch to the fat of her thigh. That earned him a pleasing yelp, and a rapid succession of splashing, heavy handed smacks to his nearest upper arm.

"HEY, old man, you keep messing with me like you want to be my boyfriend. C'mon," Shera held up her fists. "put em' up. You want to fight." It surprised him entirely that they were in the right position to box.

The laugh that came out of him shook his shoulders. "Alright, knock it off, floatin' butterfly. I don't wanna fight." He jabbed his hand through her defensive forearms and pulled her into his chest where she couldn't escape. Shera wrapped her own arms around his waist, but was still protesting.

"No hugs, only fists. You started it."

"You're somethin' somethin', aren't you? Gettin' all henned up again." Cid cradled her waist up against his. Their forced hug loosened into a mutual sway. The roar of the waterfall and the songs of crickets made themselves known again.

"I resent that you're cooing at me. I'm not your baby." Shera's words were on the sharp side, but there was a warm smile in her voice, and on her face. Cid wasn't offended.

Cid grunted; the sound vibrating from his chest and filling the cheek that rested on it. Shera was suddenly acutely aware again, that they were both buck-naked in each other's presence. It was too late to gain some distance if that was even something they wanted. They were already skin to skin.

"You could be, y'know. I can take care of you if you want me to." Cid pressed his nose to the top of her head. "If we get off this island, it's a damn promise."

"I know you'd do that." Shera closed her eyes. It was surreal. It really, truly was. She felt like she'd been hustling with him for years. "I'm not your baby and you already take care of me. Can we…keep that a mutual promise, Captain?"

"Ain't got a problem with that." Cid lifted his head so he could look her in the eye as he said it. He tucked a portion of Shera's bangs behind her ear. "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine."

Shera smiled and placed her hands up on his broad shoulders. "You got a deal." She pursed her lips. Cid squinted, because by now he knew she was getting ready to say something reeaalll snarky.

"You know, we could _wash_ each other's backs if we had soap."

The devil on his left was agreeable. "I get it babe. Soap. If we get this signal fire to work for us tomorrow night, and get off this island, you can have all the soap you want."

* * *

 **That concludes chapter 2! More to come, so please leave a review if you enjoyed!**


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